ICC welcomes Bosco 'Terminator' Ntaganda's surrender (self surrender)

 

The American state department said that Ntaganda surrendered on Tuesday and requested to be transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands.
The action by Gen Ntaganda follows after the Hague-based court issued a warrant of arrest against him in 2006 over his suspected role in the DR Congo civil wars.

Gen Ntaganda, famously known as “The Terminator”, is accused of conscripting child soldiers, rape, murder, ethnic persecution and forceful deportation.
The charges against Ntaganda relate to his time as the leader of a militia in the North Eastern DR Congo between 2002 and 2003.
Gen Ntaganda is said to been active in fighting for other rebel groups in the region, as well as the Congolese army.
He is believed to be one of the leaders of the M23 rebel group, which is fighting government troops in the east of the country.
According to a report published by the BBC, the United Nations believes that the government of Rwanda has been backing the M23 rebels, claims Kigali has vehemently denied.
On Sunday, the DR Congo government said Gen Ntagand had fled to Rwanda after he and some of his followers were apparently defeated by a rival faction of the M23 group.
"I can confirm that Bosco Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali this [Monday] morning," US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
"He specifically asked to be transferred to the ICC in The Hague."
Nuland added, “The US was now in contact with the ICC and the Rwandan government to facilitate his request."
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said the government was "currently establishing further details on this evolving situation".
"We have just learned that Gen Ntaganda presented himself at the US Embassy early this morning," said Minister Mushikiwabo in a statement.
Ntaganda was born in Rwanda in 1973 and fled to DR Congo as a teenager after the deadly 1994 genocide that left close to 1 million people dead.
In 2006, Gen Ntaganda was indicted by the ICC for allegedly recruiting child soldiers.
He is also said to be in charge of troops that carry out the 2008 Kiwanji massacre. In 2009, he was integrated into the Congolese national army and made a General.
In 2012, he defected from the army, sparking a new rebellion which forced 800,000 from their homes.

 By Femmy Alade